Stationary drum clothes dryer



May 30,1967 J. B. HElNlCKE STATIONARY DRUM CLOTHES DRYER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 4, 1965 INVENTOR.

John I). [7 3' Jake ""5 %TORNEYS May 30, 1967 J. B. HEINICKE STATIONARY DRUM CLOTHES DRYER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 4, 1965 INVENTOR. zz zcate A4 -4WORNEYS Jofzzz 5. 176;

United States Patent 3,321,846 STATIONARY DRUM CLOTHES DRYER John B. Heinicke, Benton Harbor, Mich, assignor to Whirlpool Corporation, Benton Harbor, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Filed .Ian. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 423,261 17 Claims. (Cl. 334-181) This invention relates generally to laundry equipment and more particularly to a clothes dryer of the type in corporating a stationary receptacle or drum for receiving fabrics such as clothing and the like to be dried, a warm air system for supplying warm air into the drum to dry the fabric and tumbling means for tumbling, agitating and loosening of the fabric in the stationary drum as the warm air is being circulated therethrough in order to thoroughly dry the fabric in a minimum amount of time.

Generally, prior art clothes dryers comprise a dryer cabinet and a rotatable horizontally disposed internally and integrally baffled drum with the front end of the drum aligned with an access door in the front wall of the cabinet for loading and unloading clothes into the drum.

Warm air systems incorporated in such prior art arrangements are by design usually restricted in that air inlet and air outlet ducts or conduits are required to have openings which do not communicate directly with the interior of the drum.

The flow path of the warm air within the drum is therefore substantially reduced. If the air enters and leaves the drum through the same wall of the drum there may be a tendency to short-circuit the drum so that only a portion of the air stream actually circulates through the drum.

In accordance with the present invention, a stationary drum is provided for receiving fabrics to be dried. The drum comprises a cylindrical peripheral wall and two end walls which may also conveniently form the front and back of a generally rectangular cabinet for housing the stationary drum. Independently movable bafiles are provided within the drum to accomplish an agitating or tumbing function. The baffles are driven from exteriorly of the drum by drive means connected to the baflles through only a minor section of the drum. Accordingly, air inlet and outlet openings may be placed about the periphery of the drum in almost any desired advantageous position without concern for problems inherent in transfer of drying air to and from rotating drums. The warm drying air may be circulated substantially more thoroughly through the interior of the drum in order to more satisfactorily dry the fabrics in an appreciably reduced time and with attendant savings in costs of operation. In addition, a novel bafile arrangement ensures thorough turnbling of the fabrics and a drive arrangement provides for driving the baffles and a blower in the warm air system from a single motive source.

It is an object of the invention to provide a dryer with a single stationary drum and separately mounted clothes ballles rotatably mounted within the drum.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a clothes dryer with an improved warm air system for circulating warm air more advantageously across the interior of the drum to provide greater efiiciency in drying and to reduce the time required for drying of the fabrics.

Another object of the present invention is to provide awarm air system for a clothes dryer wherein the warm air enters and leaves through opposite portions of the drum, thereby improving the warm air flow within the drum.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a clothes dryer incorporating a stationary dryer drum with warm air supply and discharge conduits in open communication with any selected portion in the interior of 3,321,845 Patented May 30, 1967 the drum for circulating warm air therethrough, at least one of such conduits opening into the interior of the drum through the cylindrical peripheral side wall of the drum.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clothes dryer wherein the dryer drum is non-rotatably mounted within the cabinet to facilitate connection of air conduits to the peripheral side wall of the drum to provide crossflow of warm air within the drum and also wherein baffle members are arranged within the drum contiguous to the peripheral side wall to move relative to the drum to provide a tumbling action to the fabrics.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement whereby a blower for the warm air system and also tumbling means for the fabrics are both driven from a single motive source.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a clothes dryer which is simple in design and construction, which reduces drying time and which is extremely efficient with resultant savings in operating costs.

Many other features, advantages and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description which follows and the accompanying sheets of drawings, in which preferred structural embodiments incorporating the principles of the present invention are shown by way of illustrative example only.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational View of a clothes dryer incorporating the principles of the present invention with portions of the front panel of the dryer cabinet cut away to disclose the relative disposition of parts;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the dryer of FIGURE 1 with portions of a side panel of the cabinet cutaway;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the dryer taken substantially along the lines III-III of FIGURE 1 and with parts removed for clarity; and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged detailed sectional view of a novel bafile and baffle driving arrangement constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention.

As shown in the drawings:

Although the principles of the invention are of general utility, a particularly useful application is made to laundry dryers and an illustrative embodiment herein shown consists of a front'loading, horizontal clothes dryer of the home appliance type.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2 an exemplary clothes dryer embodying the invention is indicated generally at reference numeral It] and comprises a cabinet 11 having vertical front and rear panels 1.2 and 13, vertical side panels 14 and 16 and horizontal top and bottom panels 17 and 18.

Housed within the cabinet 11 is a stationary receptacle or drum 19 forming a generally cylindrical treatment zone for receiving fabrics such as articles of clothing and other materials to be dried. The drum 19 is generally horizontally disposed and comprises a fixed cylindrical peripheral side wall 20 closed at its opposite ends by vertical front and rear panels 12 and 13, respectively.

The drum 19 is mounted in firm assembly within the cabinet 11 and is connected in fixed assembly to fixed support members of the cabinet in any suitable manner.

An access or closure door 23 with a handle 25 is mounted on the front panel 12 of the cabinet 11 by means of binge members 24 and controls an opening for loading wet fabrics into and removing dried fabrics from the receptacle or drum 19 and for that purpose an opening 26 is formed in the front panel 12 in registry with the door 23 to facilitate ingress and egress to and from the drum. A seal member 35 on the door provides an air seal between the door 23 and the front panel 12.. The use of a non-rotating drum permits the use of a large access door 23 having any desired configuration, without the sealing difficulties normally encountered with the use of rotating drums.

In order to enhance the evaporation of moisture from the wet fabrics within the drum 19, a Warm air system is provided within the cabinet and comprises, in the exemplary embodiment illustrated, an air blower such as a centrifugal fan 27 which discharges through an air duct or conduit 28. Suitable gas fuel or electric air heating means, such as, for example, an electric heater element 28a may be mounted in the duct 28 for heating the air after it is discharged from the blower 27.

It is contemplated by the present invention that the duct 23 be placed in direct open communication with the interior of the drum 19 through an air inlet or supply opening 29 formed in the periphery of the drum for example in the peripheral wall 20 of the drum 19. The opening 29 is covered by a screen 29a to prevent fabrics from falling into conduit 28.

After the heated air is supplied to the drum 19 moisture evaporated from the fabrics is thereupon carried by the air stream and is discharged from the drum. Since the drum is stationary it is possible with this invention to locate the inlet and outlet at optimum relative positions. It will be apparent, further, that in order to remove a substantial amount of moisture, and therefore to increase the efliciency and reduce the operating costs of the dryer the air should come into contact with suflicient wet fabric as it circulates through the interior of the drum to pick up maximum moisture content and to thereby reduce the moisture content of the fabrics as quickly as possible.

In order to maximize the circulation or the flow of the warm air as it circulates through the interior of the stationary drum, an air outlet duct 30 communicates with the interior of the drum 19 through an opening 31 formed in the back panel 13 of the cabinet 11. As a consequence the heated air which enters the drum through the opening 29 must circulate substantially across the axial length of the drum before it is discharged through the outlet opening 31.

It will be appreciated that in accordance with the principles of the invention the drum openings could be functionally reversed, that is, warm air could be introduced into the drum through the opening 31 and discharged from the opening 29 or, alternatively, both the inlet and Q I the outlet openings could be formed in the side peripheral wall 20 of the drum 19. Also, the warm air could well be drawn through the drum instead of being pushed as illustrated in the drawings.

A collar 32 of the duct 30 protrudes from the rear panel 13 of the cabinet 11 in order to accommodate additional duct work, if desirable.

In order to tumble or agitate the clothes in the air stream tumbling means are provided in the stationary drum 19 in order to improve the efficiency of the drying operation and in order to reduce the time required to thoroughly dry the fabrics.

For this purpose a plurality of baffle members 33 are situated within the drum 19 preferably contiguous to an inner surface 34 of the peripheral wall 20 and moved in a circumferential circular path about the interior of the drum in order to engage and to provide a tumbling action for the fabrics.

The baflie members 33 are mounted on and driven by means of a baffle drive apparatus indicated generally at reference numeral 36 which comprises a continuous ring shaped bafile carrier member 51 mounted on the drum 19 for rotation relative thereto and a belt 37 wrapped drivingly about the periphery of the baflie carrier member 51 and driven by means of a pulley r sheave member 38 mounted on a drive shaft 39 of a suitable motive source, :such as an electric motor 40.

It will be noted that in view of the bafiie drive apparatus and the relative disposition of the belt 37 and the 4 motor 40, the motor can also be utilized in driving the blower 27 through the shaft 39, as illustrated in the drawings.

Referring to FIGURES 3 and 4, it will be noted that the drum 19 may comprise a pair of separate axially spaced drum portions 41 and 42, the outer ends of each of which are connected in fixed assembly to their respective cabinet panels 12 and 13 by suitable means such as circumferentially continuous welds 43 and 44. As a result the two portions 41 and 42 are non-rotatably mounted within and firmly aflixed to the cabinet 11 and are axially aligned with one another.

The interfacing or adjacent inner ends 46 and 47 of the peripheral side wall 20 of the drum portions 41 and 42 define an opening in the drum wall through which belt 37 is connected to the baffle carrier member 51 and are shaped to provide a circumferentially continuous track or guide means for the baffle drive assembly 36. More particularly, the inner ends 46 and 47 each comprise an axially extending flange 48 on the outer end of a radial flange 49 offset from the peripheral drum wall and interconnected by an arcuately shaped transition portion 50 to the axial flange 48.

As best seen in FIGURE 4, an annular circumferentially continuous baffle carrier member 51 comprises an axially extending body portion 52 which spans the space or opening between drum portions 41 and 42 and a pair of radically outturned guide lugs 53 and 54 extend outwardly toward the track means 46 and 47.

The purpose of the baffle carrier member 51 is to rotate between the stationary portions 41 and 42 of the drum 19, in order to carry and move the baffle members 33 about the interior of the drum. In order to guide the carrier member 51 in rotation and to reduce wear, a pair of generally U-shaped bearing inserts or glide means 56 and 57 are securely fastened, respectively, to the outer ends of the guide lugs 53 and 54 and are shaped complementarily to the contour of the track means 46 and 47.

It will be noted that the bearing insets 56 and 57 are engaged in snug bearing relation with the track means in order to facilitate rotation of the carrier member 51 while substantially preventing any axial movement thereof.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 3, each of the baffles 33 is substantially frusto-triangular in transverse crosssection and extends longitudinally beyond the baffle carrier member 51 for a greater portion of the axial length of the drum 19.

The baffles 33 are more particularly characterized as comprising a horizontal inner wall 58 situated in spaced parallel relation to the peripheral wall 20 of the drum 19 and a slightly longer outer wall 59 contiguous to and in close running relation with the peripheral wall 20* of the drum.

The inner and outer walls 58 and 59 are interconnected by means of a pair of radially extended side walls 60 and 61 and oblique end walls 62 and 63. The configuration and positioning of the baffles is such as to provide a substantial tumbling action to the fabrics within the drum without tearing, stretching or otherwise harming the fabrics.

As best seen in FIGURE 4, each of the battles 53 is fixedly secured to the baffle carrier member 51 by any suitable means, such as, for example, a plurality of fasteners 64 extending through the body portion 52 of the carrier member 51 and the outer wall 59 of the baffle 53.

The belt 37 is wrapped in snug gripping or driving relation about the periphery of the baffle carrier member 51 in order to rotate the carrier member and to drive the baffles 33 in a circular path about the inner surface 34 of the drum 19. In order to improve the gripping relation between the belt 37 and the carrier member 51, the belt may be grooved as at 66 along that face thereof in contact with the carrier member.

Although minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably come within the scope of my contribution to the art.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a clothes dryer,

a stationary drum forming a treatment zone for receiving fabrics to be dried,

separate tumbling means mounted on said drum for movement circumferentially continuous relative thereto and having a portion thereof extending into said drum to engage and to tumble fabrics therein upon movement of said tumbling means, and

means for driving said tumbling means circumferentially relative to said drum.

2. In a clothes dryer,

a stationary drum forming a treatment zone for receiving fabrics to be dried,

tumbling means carried on said drum and including baffle means situated interiorly of said drum to engage and'to tumble fabrics in said drum, and driving means operatively connected to said tumbling means to drive the baifie means circumferentially throughout the inner peripheral wall of said drum.

3. In a clothes dryer,

a cabinet,

a stationary drum mounted in the cabinet for receiving fabrics to be dried,

tumbling means carried on said drum and including baffie means situated interiorly of said drum to engage and to tumble fabrics in said drum, and driving means situated exteriorly of said drum but interiorly of said cabinet and operatively connected to said tumbling means to drive said bafile means circumferentially about the inner surface of the peripheral wall of said drum.

4. In a clothes dryer,

cabinet,

a stationary drum mounted in the cabinet for receiving fabrics to be dried, and tumbling means for tumbling the fabrics in the drum comprising,

track means carried on the drum and extending circumferentially therearound, and

bathe means carried in said track means for travel therein and extending into the interior of said drum to engage and to tumble the fabrics in the drum.

5. The clothes dryer as defined in claim 4 wherein said track means is carried on the peripheral wall of said drumand including driving means connected to said baffie means for driving said baffle means in said track means.

6. In a clothes dryer,

a stationary drum for receiving fabrics to be dried and including a cylindrical peripheral wall having an opening formed therein, and a warm air system for circulating warm air through the drum to dry the fabrics therein and including an inlet conduit and an outlet conduit both in open communication with the interior of said drum,

at least one of said conduits being fixedly connected to said peripheral wall and communicating with the interior of said drum through said opening in said peripheral wall.

7. The clothes dryer as defined in claim 6 and including tumbling means having a movable baffle situated within said drum to tumble the fabrics in the drum.

8. In a clothes dryer,

a cabinet,

a stationary drum mounted in the cabinet for receiving fabrics to be dried and including a cylindrical peripheral wall having an opening formed therein,

tumbling means carried on said peripheral wall and including movable bafiie means situated interiorly of said drum to engage and to tumble fabrics in said drum,

a warm air system for circulating warm air through the drum to dry the fabrics therein and including an inlet conduit and an outlet conduit both in open communication with the interior of said drum,

at least one of said conduits being stationary and being connected to said opening, said warm air system further including an air blower for providing air circulation, and

driving means operatively connected to said blower and to said tumbling means to operate said blower and to move said baffie means.

9. The clothes dryer as defined in claim. 8 wherein said driving means comprises a single electric motor.

10. In a clothes dryer,

a cabinet having a fixed support,

a drum nonrotatably mounted on said fixed support for receiving fabrics to be dried and having a cylindrical peripheral wall,

track means carried on said peripheral wall intermediate the ends of said drum,

bafiie means situated in said drum, extending beyond said track means and movably carried in said track means to engage and to tumble fabrics in said drum, and

driving means operatively connected to said bafile means for driving said battle means in said track means to effect the tumbling of said fabrics in said drum during a drying operation.

11. In a clothes dryer,

a stationary drum having a cylindrical peripheral wall comprising a pair of axially spaced portions having spaced confronting ends,

track means formed on said portions adjacent the confronting ends thereof, and

tumbling means for tumbling fabrics within said drurn comprising,

a rotatable bafiie carrier member movably carried in said track for travel about said peripheral wall, and

battle means in said drum adjacent the peripheral wall thereof and connected in corotatable assembly to said baffle carrier member to engage and to tumble the fabrics within said drum.

12. The clothes dryer as defined in claim 11 wherein said haffie carrier member comprises bearing glide means shaped complementarily to said track means and engageable therewith for guiding said bafile carrier member for rotation about the axis of said drum.

13. A clothes dryer comprising means forming an air circuit,

a blower at one point in the circuit to drive a supply of air in the form of a stream, heating means at a second point in the circuit to warm the air in the stream, and

means forming an enlarged stationary cylindrical drum disposed about a horizontal axis at a third point in the circuit,

said drum having an access opening for placing a batch of clothes therein to be dried,

whereby air driven through said circuit will all be driven through said drum to effect the drying of the clothes.

14. A clothes dryer as defined in claim 13 and agitating means in said drum to move the clothes for maximum exposure to the air stream.

15. A clot-hes dryer as defined in claim 14 and a common driving motor having separate driving connections to said blower and said agitating means.

16. In a clothes dryer,

a stat1onary drum for receiving fabrics to be dried and ncluding a peripheral Wall provided with an opena baffie carrier means mounted on said drum, said baffle carrier means positioned to close said opening,

-fabric tumbling baffle means mounted on said bafiie carrier means separate from and within said drum for agitating fabrics placed in said drum, drive means exteriorly of said drum for driving said bafile car rier means, and

means operatively connecting said drive means and said bafiie carrier means at said opening.

17. In a clothes dryer as defined in claim 2,

said drum comprising front and rear wall-forming parts mounted on a horizontal axis and together with one another forming a drying chamber,

said baffie means comprising a plurality of bafile members positioned within said drying chamber and having carrier means extending outwardly between said parts for en- References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,688,919 10/1928 Davis 34-181 2,416,405 2/1947 Purpura 34138 X 2,884,710 5/1959 Smith 34-133 FREDERICK L. MATIESON, JR., Primary Examiner. C. R. REMKE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A CLOTHES DRYER, A STATIONARY DRUM FORMING A TREATMENT ZONE FOR RECEIVING FABRICS TO BE DRIED, SEPARATE TUMBLING MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID DRUM FOR MOVEMENT CIRCUMFERENTIALLY CONTINUOUS RELATIVE THERETO AND HAVING A PORTION THEREOF EXTENDING INTO SAID DRUM TO ENGAGE AND TO TUMBLE FABRICS THEREIN UPON MOVEMENT OF SAID TUMBLING MEANS, AND MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID TUMBLING MEANS CIRCUMFERENTIALLY RELATIVE TO SAID DRUM. 